<< Most of the people to whom I
explain transhumanism and extropianism have negative reactions.>>

According to some 80% of the world is depressed at any one time. It is the
most common illness mental OR physical. See Martin Seligman's _Learned
Optimism_ for references to this statistic.

<<But there are antidotes to these negative thoughts. First, I've learned
to
read less of the list. Once a thread wanders into an area in which I'm not
interested (or if it starts that way), I just delete the messages. Some
times I have pangs of guilt, especially if I delete a message by an author
whose writing I've liked in the past, but keeping up with things takes some
ruthlessness these days.>>

Exactly. Delete, Delete, Delete. With out even reading one word. I don't
want to brainwash myself into depression, so, it's the most effective
antidote. Immunization from such negativity also comes from internal
refutation of the negative memes and by realizing that the person is in a
state of depression all be it an intelligent person and even well laid out
argument or "reason" to be pessimistic. Nevertheless, a good argument for
pessimism does not sway me very much since there are so many ways to refute
it.

<< More importantly, Eugene and Velociman both point to the same problem, but
in
different ways. Eugene despairs of actually bringing our goals to fruition
and Velociman fears we will be stopped by those who oppose us. Work toward
one can help avoid the other, but it needs to be done right. >>

But "right" does not mean only _one_ way. There are thousands (millions for
the creative mind) of ways to work towards the future I want.

<<Post-humanity will happen in a thousand laboratories and businesses. This
is
where the real forefront of transhumanism and extropianism lies. Our
important work is there. If you're a researcher or entrepreneur, go to it.
As the ad campaign says, "Just do it." >>

I would suggest the book _First Things First_ and _The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People_ both by Stephen Covey.

<< While science thrives on SCIENTIFIC controversy, it withers in the
face of social and political controversy. While business enterprise thrives

on ECONOMIC competition, it avoids ideological competition. Most working
scientists and technologists are rightly afraid of becoming publicly
involved
in social controversy, for fear of losing funding for their research.
Businessmen fear explicit or implicit boycott. Overcoming this problem is
one of the key challenges facing us.